Child Abuse Prevention Programs & Services

Parenting & Family Education Classes

No matter what your situation as a parent, caregiver, or family member, SAFEchild has a program designed just for you. Our goal is to give you the skills, information, and support you need to be positively involved with your children.

1. Welcome Baby

   Welcome Baby pairs an experienced mother with a new mother in a year-long home-visiting program. SAFEchild's trained volunteers act as mentors, friends, and parent educators throughout the crucial first year of parenthood. Participants include single moms, teenage mothers, Latino/Hispanic moms, mothers with infants in intensive care, and others with limited social and financial resources. Welcome Baby is funded by Wake County SmartStart.
   Contact: mputterman@safechildnc.org

2. Crianza Con Carino (Raising Children with Love and Tenderness)

   This 12- to 15-week family education program blends child-rearing information with social supports to strengthen Spanish-speaking families living in Wake County. Culturally sensitive, bi-lingual volunteers facilitate parent and children's groups using a nationally recognized curriculum. The program is offered to urban and rural families who may be experiencing family violence. Crianza is partially funded by Wake County SmartStart and through the Hope for Children Collaboration that includes the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the John Rex Endowment, and the Kate B. Reynolds Health Care Trust. Parents and their children attend together but meet in separate groups.
   Contact: scastillo@safechildnc.org or grodriguez@safechildnc.org

3. MENS Program - Men Engaged in Nurturing Strategies

   MENS is a 10-week program that helps fathers make the connection between the violence they experienced in their own families of origin and the violence they are exhibiting in their current family. The course teaches communication skills, anger management, and positive discipline. MENS is partially funded by Wake County Government, Community Partnerships.
   Contact: ssullivan@safechildnc.org

4. The MOVE Program (Mothers Overcoming Violence through Education and Empowerment)

   SAFEchild's MOVE Program helps mothers minimize the impact of domestic violence on their children. The program reduces isolation, builds self-esteem, and reinforces positive parenting. Mothers who have been involved in domestic altercations with a significant other learn that the challenges they face are not insurmountable. Participating mothers discuss with each other the frustrations and successes involved in their challenging family circumstances. The MOVE Program enables mothers to feel more competent and confident in their parenting role. The 12-week program also addresses risk factors for child maltreatment while enhancing family strengths. MOVE is a collaboration with Interact with funding from the NC Governor's Crime Commission and The Duke Endowment.
   Contact: ssullivan@safechildnc.org

5. The Nurturing Program

   SAFEchild's 12-week Nurturing Program helps parents learn positive discipline techniques and develop appropriate expectations for their children based on their developmental stages. The weekly sessions teach parents how to increase their empathy, communicate better, and strengthen their stress and anger-management skills. Parents and children attend together. The program is partially funded by the NC Governor's Crime Commission, the City of Raleigh, Wake County Human Services, the North Raleigh Exchange Club, and the Ragland Family Trust.
   Contact: gbustle@safechildnc.org

6. The PLUS Program: Parents Learning, Understanding, Sharing

   Using children's literature, the 10-week PLUS program encourages cooperation and helps families develop good communication skills and manage stress and anger. A story-sharing activity group for the children enhances self-esteem and relationship skills. Partial funding for the PLUS Program is from Wake County Human Services.
   Contact: gespino@safechildnc.org

7. Strengthening Families Program

   Strengthening Families is a 15-week evidence-based family skills building program serving families with children between the ages of three and five. During this 37.5-hour program, parents and their children learn family communication skills, reduce their level of conflict and stress, and increase their positive discipline skills. Parents and the children meet in separate groups for the first part of each session and then come together to practice skills that strengthens and supports individual family members and the family as a unit. Strengthening Families is implemented in collaboration with Triangle Family Services with funding from the NC Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services.
   Contact: vholland@safechildnc.org

8. Circle of Parents

   Our graduates asked for this weekly parent information and support group for families who have successfully completed a SAFEchild program. SAFEchild alumni use the program to keep their parenting skills up-to-date and to maintain the strong ties they develop with SAFEchild staff and other participants. Circle of Parents is supported in part with funds from the Duke Endowment.
   Contact: cderonja@safechildnc.org

9. Funny Tummy Feelings

   SAFEchild reaches some 5,000 first-graders every year with this interactive program that teaches children skills to protect themselves from physical and sexual abuse.
   Contact: pjennings@safechildnc.org

We are happy to talk with you about what program(s) may be the best for you and your family. Call us at 919-743-6140. Submit our contact form online, or print it out in Adobe PDF format and return it to SAFEchild, 864 West Morgan Street, Raleigh, NC 27603. Someone from SAFEchild will contact you.